Delhi world's most polluted major city on eve of Diwali: IQAir

BENGALURU: Delhi ⁠was the world's most polluted major city on Saturday ​morning, according ​to Swiss group IQAir's live ranking, as the Indian capital faced severe pollution forecasts a day before Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
* India has ordered schools in and ⁠around Delhi to offer online classes and encouraged ⁠people to work from home ahead of Diwali on Sunday, which is usually marked by the widespread ‌use of firecrackers that further worsen ​the air ⁠quality.
* IQAir ranked Delhi first among ​the world's major cities ‌at 10:35 a.m. (0505 GMT), with a US air quality index ​reading of 581, double that of Lahore in neighbouring Pakistan, at 285.
* IQAir's reading, based on concentrations of air pollutants, is not directly comparable to India's ‌official index, which uses a different scale and ​methodology.
* India's Central Pollution Control Board put Delhi's ​air quality ‌index ⁠at 363 at 10 a.m., in the 'very poor' category.
* Friday's air quality in Delhi ​was the worst pre-Diwali air in ⁠eight years, ​local media said, citing official data.
* Pollution is an annual problem in many parts of northern India from the onset of winter ​as cold, heavy air traps vehicle emissions, ​construction dust and smoke from crop-waste burning.